Sowams Heritage Area Coordinator Dr. David Weed organized a session of the 17th Century Rhode Island MeetUp Group at three locations in East Providence, the site of the first colonial settlement in the area, on April 14, 2019. After learning the history of the Newman Church that was first organized in 1643 and constructed at the center of the Ring of the Green with house lots surrounding it on a common area, the group went to the nearby Roger Williams Spring where historian Marc Kohler offered a brief history of Roger Williams at the site of his first settlement after Williams was banished from Salem, MA. East Providence Historical Society Co-President Nancy Moore and Docent Carole DaFabio then described the 1751 John Hunt House, including a grave stone from the Newman Cemetery that she recovered and placed in the house. East Providence Conservation Commission Vice-Chair Ernie Germani led the group to the Ten-Mile River and thhttps://youtu.be/SriPxSCykKQe location where the first mill was constructed in 1645.